I ran away from Anni as fast as I could, not that it was very quick at all. My feet sank into the plush carpet each time I set them down, the white fibers coming up to my knees and slowing my pace. Every step required more exertion than the last, my legs getting harder to lift out of the spongy terrain. Still I soldiered on in the vain hope of putting any sort of distance between us.
It occurred that running was more for their amusement than any real attempt to escape on my part. The four giantesses had me boxed in, and there’s no way they would ever let me past them. I looked up from their feet arrayed in a square around me and saw them all eagerly watching my progress, a fire in Alyssa’s gray eyes that contrasted with the patience glimmering in Mary’s. For her part Fulda was almost impassive, a slight grin tugging at the corner of her mouth while I struggled with the carpet.
A deep thud shook the ground behind me, and I turned to look over my shoulder. An enormous heel had set down atop the carpet, a thin layer of nylon the color of tanned skin pulled tight around it. Anni’s foot stretched over me for what seemed like a hundred feet, casting me in its dark shadow, gradually getting lower. Even on flat ground I could never get out from under it. Off to the side I saw her other foot planted firmly on the ground, no more than a foot from where I was. I never had a chance.
My nylon ceiling continued to swing down, the area beneath it gradually getting narrower. It wasn’t long before I could barely stand, hunching over as I lurched toward her toes. Her sole bumped into my back and knocked me to my knees, where I continued struggling with the carpet to make forward progress. A few seconds later Anni’s foot set down on my back, splaying my limbs out and pressing me into the carpet. I was under the softer part of her insole, but her great weight pressing down on me made me feel as though I were on the verge of being flattened.
Even though the game was rigged against me from the start it still burned that Anni had beaten me so easily. “Well, look at who ended up underfoot after all!” she declared as though she had accomplished some great feat. “I guess he didn’t want to live that badly after all.” She shifted her weight forward, grinding me further into the compressed carpet beneath me until I could go no further. Right when it seemed I was about to be crushed however she relented, allowing the carpet to push back up while she simply held me beneath her foot.
“I don’t think any of us are surprised you ended up there,” she continued, holding me as a captive audience against her sole. “You were always such a pipsqueak! Remember back in third grade when you didn’t even come up to my knees?” Our recollections might not have matched up, but I was hardly in a position to correct her. “You would walk along with me, running to keep up, looking up like you were awe-struck until I stepped over you. “I think…” She paused for a moment, and I felt her weight shift while she took a breath. “This feels right, doesn’t it? More natural? Like you should be this tiny compared to me, just a little bug at my feet. You agree, don’t you?” Whether or not I agreed was immaterial: I still had a mouth full of carpet and a gigantic foot holding me down.
Gradually the weight on my back lessened while Anni leaned back, but I was still barely able to bring myself up to a crawl. “I have the perfect idea for you, tiny!” she said, her foot suppressing the vibrations. “If you move toward my toes you’ll find a flap in the bottom of my stocking. Climb into it and then we can really have some fun!” I had no idea who “we” included since I expected only pain and torment from this, but if I refused it seemed likely she would make me part of the carpet.
Slowly I pulled myself forward, dragging my body between the rough carpet fibers and the sleek nylon around Anni’s foot. Several times she wobbled forward when she lost her balance, pushing me back into the carpet and nearly flattening me again before she recovered, allowing me to move again. I would have given anything to see the smug look on her face while I spent several minutes traversing the length of her foot, but I no longer owned anything, and I could imagine it quite well.
Soon enough I found the flap she was talking about and probed the opening with an arm. It was definitely elastic enough to let me through, and there was no telling what she would do if I didn’t go in. I pulled the cloth down and poked my head in, and found that it easily accommodated my shoulders. A bit of wiggling later and my feet slid into the nylon as well, and there was no going back. I was stuck inside Anni’s stocking.
She lifted her foot up and kicked forward several times, pushing me toward her toes and causing my stomach to leap back and forth. Dizziness swam through my head while I tried not to puke, and before I knew it Anni’s toes were practically wrapped around me. Due to her frankly insane height she had long toes, and for the moment I found some degree of refuge in the arches beneath them.
Anni’s stocking held me like a tight net while it held me against her foot hovering in the air. She raised her colossal leg to around her shoulder height in order to showcase me trapped inside her stocking. “And he just crawled in there?” “He looks even smaller now!” “Damn, I should’ve worn stockings,” said Alyssa, Fulda, and Mary in turn. As I passed they each leaned in to get a closer look, the fabric significantly darkening their skin; even Alyssa looked like she regularly went outside.
She set her foot back on the ground, sandwiching me between her toes and the carpet. “It may seem like I’m bogarting him,” Anni began, the force of her voice shaking my ribs, “but I was the one who picked him.” Her foot lifted off the carpet again and my vision whirled when she turned her leg to the side. When the dizziness subsided I realized that I was looking down at a tremendous black flat, her other foot comfortably resting inside one.
Anni’s foot descended toward the flat’s opening, bringing me along with it. I struggled as much as I could to break free, but the tight-knit nylon at my back held me tightly against her toes. Her foot entered the shoe, plunging me into near-absolute darkness when what little light had been available was blocked out. The light diminished as her foot filled the shoe, and the sound of the fabric creaking around her foot bombarded me from all sides the more her foot stretched it. A few seconds later her foot came to a rest, and I was plunged into total darkness.
I came to rest upon the sole of her shoe, held firmly in place by her toes. Anni wiggled her toes, and the two positioned above me mercilessly hammered my body against the dark fabric at my back and the hard sole beyond it. Her shoe retained heat very well, to the point that I felt myself begin to sweat, and it contained her foot’s scent as well. Breathing through my mouth was no better than my nose at this point, since trying would just fill my mouth with the taste of her foot. Instead I tried to keep it to shallow breaths, hoping to make what could be my last few moments as pleasant as possible.
My stomach dropped when she lifted her foot, and spots appeared in my eyes as she took a step, shooting her foot forward. Anni’s heel set down, sending a shock up her foot and throughout my entire body, before she swung the rest of her foot back down. It landed with a crash, every bone in my body shaking from the impact, only to be pressed back into place when her foot pressed down on me again.
“And just where do you think you’re going?” a voice boomed while Anni was mid-stride. There was a lot of distortion between me and her mouth, but I’m almost certain that was Fulda trying to maintain some measure of control over the situation.
“I’m just stepping out for a moment,” came the rumbling reply from my captor. “I want to feel the little twerp beneath my toes while I walk. Don’t worry, I’ll have your tiny boyfriend back to you soon enough, and he should be in one piece still.” After her weak reassurance to Fulda, Anni stepped off again, and I felt my guts flying freely inside my body. Dizziness hit me when her foot shot up suddenly, and a familiar quake shook my body when her heel set down. I braced myself for what was about to come next, and clenched my teeth while her toes pressed down on me again.
Several teeth-chattering strides later I was enduring another step grinding me into the sole of Anni’s shoe when she suddenly stopped, rolling back onto the ball of her foot and crushing me into her shoe. “Oh. Hi, Gina,” said my captor titaness. As if this couldn’t get any worse.
“Hi Anni!” Fulda’s sister replied, her voice muffled by the mountain of flesh and leather I was trapped inside. “What’re you doing out of the party?”
“I stepped out to stretch my legs,” Anni said. “They’re just so long, I can’t really do that in there, you know?” She paused before adding, “Well, maybe you don’t.” There was another brief silence, no doubt while Anni was smugly being tall toward Gina. “Want to see something cool?”
“Sure, what?” Anni’s toes pushed hard on me, then I felt myself being dragged along the bottom of her shoe. Fortunately the nylon kept her flat’s interior from scraping me, and after a moment I was outside in the dim light of her shadow. Slowly her leg rotated upward, and Gina’s tremendously long, skinny body gradually came into view. The ride came to a stop when I was level with Gina’s eyes, almost directly between them.
“What, the bottom of your foot?” Gina bellowed, her voice loud enough to make my insides tremble now. “I don’t get it.” Realizing that if she looked stupid here Anni would probably take it out on me I began to struggle, tearing at the thick net around me to put on a show. Gina’s eyes lit up and she exclaimed, “Oh, you’re having a tiny man party! Why didn’t anyone invite me?”
“Dunno. Maybe you’re too young, or Fulda didn’t want her lame sisters killing the vibe,” Anni said, lowering her foot back to the ground swiftly enough that I felt my stomach jump up to my throat. My insides settled again when her foot set back down, and the plush carpet acted as a soft bed beneath her foot. At least, it was more comfortable than the inside of her shoe. “I didn’t figure you’d want to come anyway, aren’t you still playing with dolls?”
“Kind of,” Gina answered slyly. “Hey, I have something cool to show you too, beanpole. Wanna see?”
“Uh, yeah, go ahead.” Anni probably expected it to be something silly that she could smile and nod at, then be on her way. Several seconds passed though and Gina hadn’t produced or said anything. It seemed like the carpet fibers were getting longer however, and a good deal thicker beneath me, with more space between them. A few more seconds went by and I slipped between them, even though I was still firmly held against Anni’s foot.
* * *
Anni stood easily, leaning on her shoed foot so that she could feel Fulda’s boyfriend struggling inside her stocking. It was so nice having him in there. She felt powerful with him trapped in her legwear, and every little movement his tiny body made tickled her toes. Though she would never admit it, she had always found him kind of cute, and from the way he looked up at her from her waist she suspected he liked her too. Fulda had gotten to him first though, and she would never get between the two of them.
Gina may have been extremely tall for a girl her age, but Anni still dwarfed her. She took the opportunity to loom over her, really make her feel short while she still could. Fulda’s sister had grown another three inches since Anni had last seen her, and time was running out when she could make cracks about Gina’s height.
She blinked, and Anni thought Gina had shot up another couple of inches. While she watched the girl before her continued to sprout up, going through one massive growth spurt before her eyes. Gina quickly passed Anni’s formidable seven and a half feet and blew past eight and nine, and was still racing upward after ten.
Anni’s mouth dropped, and she realized that a growth spurt like this was impossible: even hers had taken a whole night. Too late Anni realized that Gina was shrinking her, and began backing away when her eye level raced passed her waist. She was shrinking too fast for it to make a difference though, and by the time her foot touched down again she was below Gina’s knees. Her dwindling continued while she stared in awe at the new giantess, and she realized that she hadn’t looked up at anyone for almost ten years. Finally Anni’s size stabilized, just a bit smaller than Gina’s big toe, and she was too shocked to even scream.
“Now who’s got long legs?” Gina smugly quipped, looking down at the former amazon.
* * *
A terrible rumble, more like a growl mixed with thunder, washed over my body, and I clutched my ears from the sheer volume of it. From the pattern and how suddenly it began and ended it almost seemed like human speech, but not even Anni’s voice sounded like that to me. A brief period of silence followed, giving me time to process what that was. When the realization struck I gulped. It was indeed a voice, saying, “Now who’s got long legs?”
My entire world shot upward and it felt as though my skeleton was on the verge of tearing through my skin. The ascent stopped as abruptly as it began however, throwing me up into Anni’s toes before I dropped back down against the net. Below me was a broad plain, deep furrows cutting across it in various areas, with a strong heat radiating from the surface. Every so often a tremendous mound on the far side would jolt upward before returning to its position almost immediately. My mouth dropped.
It was Gina’s open palm.
Gina slowly lowered Anni down onto her open hand, the soft skin cushioning my landing. Anni’s foot barely pressed into the surface, Gina’s taut skin buoying her perfectly. Another tremendous rumble, this time much louder, and even covering my ears afforded little protection. Anni pitched backward, throwing her legs into the air, and in a split second my view changed from darkness pressed between a foot and a palm to the largest face I had ever seen by far looking down at me, two soft blue eyes the size of the moon in the sky scanning the area around me. “Hm, he must have shrunk with you,” I finally understood the rumble saying.
The monumental face inched closer, one eye filling the entirety of my vision before she stopped. Gina’s pupil alone was many times larger than my old room, and her eye was distorted by her cornea to appear even more gigantic than it was. She blinked, her eyelashes lashing at Anni’s feet like whips, and I heard them cracking against her skin. When she opened her eyelids again her pupil was still centered on me. I stayed as still as possible in hopes that she wouldn’t notice me, but another terrible crack of rolling thunder rang out, dashing my chances. “Found him. Give him to me.”
“Calm down Gina, there’s no need for-“ Anni’s voice still sounded as huge and booming as it had before, but it was easily drowned out by an angry rumble, much longer than any before.
“How embarrassing would it be, do you think, to be crushed by your own shoe?” Gina asked. “I could set you down at my feet, pick it up, and swing it so hard that you’re obliterated, just like a pathetic little insect. You don’t want an insect’s death, do you Anni?” The rumbling paused, likely while Anni shook her head, then it resumed, “Then hand him over. Now.”
In no time at all Anni’s fingers were probing inside her stocking by the toes, and she immediately seized my foot. Roughly she dragged me out from beneath her toes and into the open air, where the sudden chill made me shiver. Without even making me dangle she set me down between two shallow ditches in Gina’s palm and scooted away, her feet pressing the skin up like waves of molasses.
Gina’s monolithic voice shook every fiber of my being once more, and I realized I was parsing what she said quicker each time. “There, was that so hard, you tiny bitch? Now Jess can play with you.”
“But, I thought you would-“ Anni sounded as though she were on the verge of tears before another assault by Gina’s voice drowned her out.
“Let you go?” She laughed, a horrific sound that reminded me of a series of explosions, the wind from it blowing me across her palm toward Anni. “You’re way too small to be free. We need to keep you safe, controlled… like you were doing to him.” Gina leaned in closer until there was nothing in my sky but her lips. They parted in a great ravine and a hiss of air cut at my ears. “And we’re going to make you pay for every time you made us feel small, threatened to sit on us, or even joked about our height, you little twerp. Payback time.”
The rumbling ceased and she moved her face back some, enough for her eyes to light upon me again. Gina’s gargantuan eyes, as large and clear as the sea, stayed on me for a moment, and I felt my head swim from the vertigo. I recalled feeling something similar at the prom, and a terrible idea hit me: what if she was making me even smaller? Would she shrink me down until I was literally nothing? Was that possible?
Her kraken-sized lips spread in a miles-long grin before they parted so she could make my insides shake again. “You. I can barely see you. You’re, like, beyond small. Probably smaller than a grain of sand. I’m going to have a lot of fun with you… as soon as I find a magnifying glass at least.” This was bad. I had barely survived last time she had “fun” with me and I was Anni’s size. Now I could be pinned down by a strand of her hair.
Gina spun around, though I felt it more than saw it since she was now filling my whole field of vision. Anni went tumbling with the force, her knee landing mere inches from me and pressing into Gina’s skin before she continued past. Her foot dragged over me, the gigantic flat skipping off the rim of the ditch I was crouching in, and she tumbled on toward Gina’s wrist.
With a tremendous crash the door closed. Two fingers wrapped around the titaness Anni and lifted her from Gina’s palm, then tossed her into the open air. She tumbled head over feet for what looked like several miles before another immense figure snatched her in one hand. Jessica, I realized, and bit my lip.
Gina carried me over to her desk and held her hand over it before upturning it. Gravity pulled on me and worked to break the hold that the oils of her skin had on me. I struggled to get free of each; no real plan, I just wanted to hide from Gina before she could start tormenting me – or, worse, make me even smaller. My struggle gave gravity the help it needed however, and I dropped from Gina’s monumental palm where I settled into a trough of the wood grain.
Light washed over me when she departed, no longer casting me in her shadow, and I could finally see something other than her. Now that I could though I wish I hadn’t. Everything was so large I could hardly comprehend it. Gina’s bed must have been the size of a small country, each thread twice as thick as I was tall. The desk I stood on stretched to what should have been the horizon, long enough that it would take me all day to walk from end to end. Even a nearby pencil drove home how insignificant I was, since its tip hung over me, many times too high for me to reach.
A series of earthquakes shook the desk, making the gigantic pencil wobble on its side, and a mammoth shadow fell over me again. Gina dominated my view once more, giving the impression that she was a butte or small mountain rather than a person. Her braid landed next to me with a crash, absolving me of that notion quickly, hundreds of strands joined into a single unit, long and thick enough to be a train tunnel. Enough for me to get lost in, or to annihilate me.
“There you are, my little dust mite!” Gina declared, her powerful voice sharply raising the air temperature around me. She was looking at me through a magnifying glass, its lens diffusing the light from her eye so that it appeared distorted and even more horrifically large than before. “Let’s get started, huh?” My voice couldn’t reach her anyway so I stayed silent, keeping the sense of dread to myself. Her smile told me all I needed to know about what to expect.